Andrew Sarris
Articles by Andrew Sarris
French Farce
OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES
Running time 99 minutes
Written by Jean-François Halin
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius read more »
Meet Me in Malta: Middle-Aged Passion with Sublime Juliet Stevenson
A PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENT
Running Time 118 minutes
Written and directed by Joan Carr-Wiggin read more »
Pieces of Ellen
THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS
Running time 77 minutes
Written by Maureen Medved
Directed by Bruce McDonald read more »
Godard: Details
The Godard series at Film Forum continues on May 5 with Le Petit Soldat (1960), starring Anna Karina and Michel Subor, at 7:30 and 9:40; the presentation will include the short Charlotte et son Jules (1958). read more »
Middlesex, Part Dos: Genital Ambiguity in Argentina
XXY
Directed by Lucía Puenzo
Written by Sergio Bizzio and Lucía Puenzo read more »
Not His Worst
MISTER LONELY
Directed by Harmony Korine
Written by Avi Korine and Harmony Korine read more »
Silly Streep
The Film Society of Lincoln Center presented a gala tribute to Meryl Streep on Monday, April 14, 2008. It was the 36th such ceremony, all directed and edited by Wendy Keys, with a writing contribution on this occasion by Joanna Ney. Meryl and I have had our publicly aired differences over the years, but in this instance I must say that she and the evening were total triumphs. read more »
Ferme Lelouch! A Man and a Woman Director Concocts Plotty Romance
ROMAN DE GARE
Running time 103 minutes
Written by Claude Lelouch and Pierre Uytterhoeven
Directed by Claude Lelouch read more »
China Syndrome
UP THE YANGTZE
Running time 93 minutes
Written and directed by Yung Chang read more »
Au Revoir, UA!
The Film Forum’s monthlong tribute to United Artists ends Thursday, May 1, on a fittingly high note, with Charles Chaplin’s two finest films, City Lights (1931), with Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherill, Harry Myers and Hank Mann, showing at 1, 4:40 and 8:20, and Modern Times (1936), with Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Chester Conklin and Stanley “Tiny” Sandford, at 2:30, 6:30 and 10:10. read more »
Hooray, UA!
Film Forum’s monthlong tribute to United Artists’ 90th anniversary is nearing its home stretch. On Thursday, April 17, there will be an action-filled double bill of Norman Jewison’s The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), with Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke, Jack Weston, Biff McGuire and Yaphet Kotto (at 1, 5:10 and 9:20), and Jules Dassin’s Topkapi (1964), with Melina Mercouri, Maximilian Schell, Peter Ustinov, Robert Morley, Akim Tamiroff and Despo Diamantidou (at 2:55 and 7:05). read more »
Saggy, Beat-Up 60-Something Pacino Still Sizzles as Sleuth
88 MINUTES
Running Time 108 minutes
Written by Gary Scott Thompson
Directed by Jon Avnet read more »
Prison Keys
FOUR MINUTES (VIER MINUTEN)
Running time 112 minutes
Written and Directed by Chris Kraus read more »
United I Stand
The best shows in town are still the United Artists gems unfolding into May at the Film Forum. On Wednesday, April 9, John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy (1969), with Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Sylvia Miles, Brenda Vaccaro, John McGiver, Barnard Hughes, Ruth White, Jennifer Salt, Gilman Rankin and Bob Balaban will screen at 1, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30 and 9:40. read more »
Blue Crush for Him
BRA BOYS
Running Time 90 minutes
Written and Directed by Sunny Abberton read more »
60-Year Old Six Feet Under Vet Makes Debut as Lovable Movie Star
THE VISITOR
Running Time 107 minutes
Written and Directed by Tom McCarthy read more »
Why, Winona?
SEX AND DEATH 101
Running time 100 minutes
Written and Directed by Daniel Waters read more »
Norah Jones Is Sweet as Pie in My Blueberry Nights
MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS
Running Time 90 minutes
Written by Wong Kar Wai and Lawrence Block
Directed by Wong Kar Wai read more »
Classic Fantastic
The five-week, 54-film festival at Film Forum from March 28 to May 1 celebrates the 90th anniversary of United Artists, and it resumes this week with John Huston’s The Misfits (1961), from Arthur Miller’s screenplay, with Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter, Eli Wallach, James Barton and Estelle Winwood. read more »
United We Sit
The United Artists 90th anniversary has been imaginatively programmed by Bruce Goldstein, the Film Forum’s director of repertory programming. The festival begins on an unusually high note, with Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980), with Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty and Joe Pesci giving the performances of their lives (March 28 and 29, at 1, 5:10 and 9:20). read more »
Mamma Mia!
MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD
Running time 100 minutes
Written by Sandro Petralia, Stefano Fulli and Daniele Luchetti
Directed by Daniele Luchetti
Starring Riccardo Scamarcio, Elio Germano, Diane Fleri
Daniele Luchetti’s My Brother Is an Only Child, from a screenplay (in Italian with English subtitles) by Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli and Mr. Luchetti, is based on Antonio Pennacchi’s novel Il Fasciocomunista, the title of which explains almost everything in the narrative. read more »
It’s Only a Rock ’n’ Roll Documentary (But I Like It!)
SHINE A LIGHT
Running time 120 minutes
Directed by Martin Scorsese read more »
Give Her a Hand!
IRINA PALM
Running Time 103 minutes
Written by Martin Herron and Philippe Blasband
Directed by Sam Gabarski read more »
Hot Releases: Three Foreign Films Explore Sex’s Seamy Side
BOARDING GATE
Running Time 106 minutes
Written and directed by Olivier Assayas read more »
Can’t Buy Me Love
PRICELESS (HORS DE PRIX)
Running time 104 minutes
Written by Pierre Salvadori and Benoit Graffin
Directed by Pierre Salvadori read more »
Kids These Days!
HEARTBEAT DETECTOR
Running Time 143 minutes
Written by Elisabeth Perceval
Directed by Nicolas Klotz read more »
Dumbo Redux
DR. SEUSS’ HORTON HEARS A WHO!
Running time 88 minutes
Written by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul
Directed by Jimmy Haywood and Steve Martino read more »
Impressive Sleepwalking Kept Me Up All Night—So Did Charlize!
SLEEPWALKING
Running time 100 minutes
Written by Zac Stanford
Directed by William Maher read more »
Withering Heights
Film Forum is reviving the new 35mm print of Robert Hamer’s 1947 “Brit Noir” by way of an early manifestation of “kitchen-sink realism,” It Always Rains on Sunday, from a screenplay by Angus MacPhail, Hamer and Henry Cornelius, based on the novel by Arthur La Bern with a haunting score by Georges Auric. Googie Withers, an almost forgotten screen siren in more than 40 films, appeared most memorably in Hamer’s “The Haunted Mirror” sequence in the multi-directed Dead of Night, arguably the greatest horror film of all time. Hamer (1911-1963) also directed Ms. read more »
American Idle
MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY
Running Time 92 minutes
Directed by Bharat Nalluri
Written by David Magee and Simon Beaufoy read more »
Blame Princess Margaret! The Feel-Good Heist Movie of the Year
THE BANK JOB
Running Time 110 minutes
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Fresnais read more »
Ice, Ice Baby
JAR CITY
Running time 93 minutes
Directed by Baltásar Kormákur
Written by Arnaldur Indriöason read more »
Days of Rage
CHICAGO 10
Running Time 103 minutes
Written and directed by Brett Morgen read more »
Hot Flashes in the Hot Rod! Jessica, Joan and Kathy Are Three Old Babes in Bonneville
BONNEVILLE
Running Time 93 minutes
Directed by Christopher N. Rowley
Written by Daniel D. Davis read more »
Queens Dreams
CHOP SHOP
Running Time 84 minutes
Directed by Ramin Bahrani
Written by Ramin Bahrani and Bahareh Azimi read more »
Guilt and Shame and Survival Propel Holocaust Movie
THE COUNTERFEITERS
Running Time 98 minutes
Written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitsky read more »
Balzac Book Goes Bust on Big Screen; Atrocities in Africa
THE DUCHESS OF LANGEAIS
RUNNING TIME 137 minutes
WRITTEN BY Pascal Bonitzer and Christine Laurent
DIRECTED BY Jacques Rivette read more »
Out of Africa
LIVE AND BECOME
RUNNING TIME 140 minutes
WRITTEN BY Alain-Michel Blanc and Radu Mihaileanu
DIRECTED BY Radu Mihaileanu read more »
Boy Soldiers
EZRA
RUNNING TIME 105 minutes
WRITTEN BY Newton I. Aduaka and Alain-Michel Blanc
DIRECTED BY Newton I. Aduaka read more »
Bom Dia, Brazil!
THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION
Running Time 100 minutes
Directed by Cao Hamburger
Written by Cao Hamburger, Claudio Galperin, Braulio Mantovani, Anna Muylaert read more »
Adventure for Dummies
FOOL'S GOLD
Running Time 95 minutes
Directed by Andy Tennant
Written by Andy Tennant, John Claflin and Daniel Zelman read more »
Moody Bruges! Colin Farrell as a Killer With a Conscience
IN BRUGES
Running Time 107 minutes
Written and Directed by Martin McDonagh read more »
More Ford
The American Museum of the Moving Image (35th Avenue at 36th Street in Astoria) is concluding its monumental John Ford retrospective with no fewer than four 1940’s climactic cinematic events, beginning with Tobacco Road (1941), with Charley Grapewin, Gene Tierney, William Tracy, Marjorie Rambeau, Elizabeth Patterson, Dana Andrews and Ward Bond, on Saturday, Feb. read more »
My Oscar Picks! Can Juno Shoot the Moon-O?
The 80th Annual Academy Award nominations have recently been announced amid the usual mix of old and new uncertainties and anxieties. After the political pollsters and pundits bombed out in foretelling the New Hampshire Democratic primary results, it is certainly a calculated risk on the part of this self-ordained prophet to predict this year’s Oscar winners at this early date. read more »
Fab Ford
Museum of the Moving Image at 35th Avenue and 36th Street in Astoria, Queens, is in the midst of a massive Ford at Fox retrospective that has already shown such John Ford silents as Just Pals (1920), The Iron Horse (1924), and Four Sons (1928), and such early talkies as Born Reckless (1930) and Air Mail (1932), before Ford hit his stride with Pilgrimage (1933) and with such Will Rogers classics as Doctor Bull (1933), Judge Priest (1934) and Steamboat ’Round the Band (1935). read more »
I Love the 80’s
THE WITNESSES
Running Time 115 minutes
Directed by André Téchiné
Written by André Téchiné, Laurent Guyot and Viviane Zingg read more »
A Nasty Peek Behind the Iron Curtain
4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS
Running Time 113 minutes
Written and Directed by Cristian Mungiu read more »
Resnais Returns
Alain Resnais’ Last Year at Marienbad (1961), from a screenplay by Alain Robbe-Grillet, will be revived for the first time in decades at Film Forum for two weeks from Jan. 18 through Jan. 31 in a new 35mm Scope print. It was Resnais’ second feature-length film after his electrifying debut at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival with Hiroshima mon amour, from a screenplay by Marguerite Duras, that placed him at the head of the Left Bank branch of the Nouvelle Vague along with Alexandre Astruc, Jean-Pierre Melville, Chris Marker and Agnes Varda. read more »
Documenting Sins of the Bush Administration: Enron Smartest Guys Filmmaker Takes on Torture
TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE
Running time 106 minutes read more »
Last Words
As a member of the New York Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics, I submitted the following selections by proxy to both groups:
BEST PICTURE
1. Juno
2. Atonement
3. Lust, Caution
BEST ACTOR
1. George Clooney, Michael Clayton read more »
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